This deep dataset from Chandra of the remains of a supernova referred to as 30 Doradus B (30 Dor B) exposes evidence for more than one supernova surge in the history of this residue. Uncommon structures in the Chandra information can not be explained by a single explosion. These pictures of 30 Dor B also show optical information from the Blanco telescope in Chile, and infrared information from Spitzer. Additional data from Hubble highlights sharp functions in the image. Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./ L. Townsley et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; Infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/ SST; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/ J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, K. ArcandResearchers expose 30 Dor B, a supernova residue, to be a complex site of multiple surges, advancing our knowledge of star lifecycles and supernovae.X-rays from Chandra have actually supplied evidence for at least two explosions tied to the supernova residue 30 Doradus B.Typically, there is only one supernova associated with a supernova residue.30 Doradus B is found in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a little neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way.A new picture of 30 Doradus B contains X-rays, optical, and infrared data.A vibrant, joyful image reveals different kinds of light containing the remains of not one, however at least two, took off stars. This supernova residue is known as 30 Doradus B (30 Dor B for short) and belongs to a larger region of area where stars have been constantly forming for the previous 8 to 10 million years. It is a complex landscape of dark clouds of gas, young stars, high-energy shocks, and superheated gas, located 160,000 light-years far from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a little satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.Multispectral Imaging of 30 Dor BThe new image of 30 Dor B was made by integrating X-ray information from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple), optical data from the Blanco 4-meter telescope in Chile (orange and cyan), and infrared data from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope (red). Optical data from NASAs Hubble Space Telescope was also included black and white to highlight sharp features in the image.Astronomical Research FindingsA team of astronomers led by Wei-An Chen from the National Taiwan University in Taipei, Taiwan, have actually utilized over two million seconds of Chandra observing time of 30 Dor B and its environments to evaluate the area. They found a faint shell of X-rays that extends about 130 light-years throughout. (For context, the nearby star to the Sun has to do with 4 light-years away). The Chandra information likewise exposes that 30 Dor B contains winds of particles blowing away from a pulsar, creating what is called a pulsar wind nebula.Supernova Explosions in 30 Dor BWhen taken together with information from Hubble and other telescopes, the scientists determined that no single supernova surge might describe what is being seen. Both the pulsar and the intense X-rays seen in the center of 30 Dor B likely arised from a supernova explosion after the collapse of a massive star about 5,000 years back. The larger, faint shell of X-rays, however, is too huge to have arised from the very same supernova. Rather, the group believes that a minimum of 2 supernova surges took place in 30 Dor B, with the X-ray shell produced by another supernova more than 5,000 years back. It is also quite possible that even more took place in the past.Contributions to AstronomyThis result can help astronomers find out more about the lives of enormous stars, and the results of their supernova explosions.The paper led by Wei-An Chen describing these results was recently released in the Astronomical Journal.Reference: “New Insights on 30 Dor B Revealed by High-quality Multiwavelength Observations” by Wei-An Chen, Chuan-Jui Li, You-Hua Chu, Shutaro Ueda, Kuo-Song Wang, Sheng-Yuan Liu and Bo-An Chen, 20 October 2023, The Astronomical Journal.DOI: 10.3847/ 1538-3881/ acff72The co-authors of the paper are Chuan-Jui Li, You-Hua Chu, Shutaro Ueda, Kuo-Song Wang, Sheng-Yuan Liu, all from the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Academia Sinica, in Taipei, Taiwan, and Bo-An Chen from National Taiwan University.NASAs Marshall Space Flight Center manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatorys Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.
Credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/Penn State Univ./ L. Townsley et al.; Optical: NASA/STScI/HST; Infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/ SST; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/ J. Schmidt, N. Wolk, K. ArcandResearchers reveal 30 Dor B, a supernova remnant, to be a complex site of numerous explosions, advancing our understanding of star lifecycles and supernovae.X-rays from Chandra have provided evidence for at least two explosions tied to the supernova remnant 30 Doradus B.Typically, there is just one supernova associated with a supernova remnant.30 Doradus B is discovered in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a small next-door neighbor galaxy to the Milky Way.A new image of 30 Doradus B contains X-rays, optical, and infrared data.A colorful, joyful image reveals different types of light including the remains of not one, however at least 2, exploded stars. It is an intricate landscape of dark clouds of gas, young stars, high-energy shocks, and superheated gas, situated 160,000 light-years away from Earth in the Large Magellanic Cloud, a little satellite galaxy of the Milky Way.Multispectral Imaging of 30 Dor BThe brand-new image of 30 Dor B was made by combining X-ray data from NASAs Chandra X-ray Observatory (purple), optical data from the Blanco 4-meter telescope in Chile (orange and cyan), and infrared data from NASAs Spitzer Space Telescope (red). The Chandra data likewise exposes that 30 Dor B contains winds of particles blowing away from a pulsar, developing what is understood as a pulsar wind nebula.Supernova Explosions in 30 Dor BWhen taken together with data from Hubble and other telescopes, the scientists determined that no single supernova explosion could explain what is being seen.